No Return
(1990)
Screenplay
Cannon, Could Have Been
|
NO RETURN Screenplay
by Gregory Goodell 139
pages -A review by Kent Church I always jump at the chance to read
unproduced screenplays. Why? Because they give you an insight into To be produced in The script opens on mechanic and
all-round good guy Nick Wagner. Nick’s young, 18 or so, and he’s planning on
eloping with his girlfriend Jesse. Their destination is Tired and hungry from their long
journey, the couple accept some advice from some creepy locals and set up a
tent at an old deserted camp ground. After some banter, Nick discovers he has
to head into town to pick up some supplies. Against his own gut, but after
some prompt pushing by Jesse, Nick leaves her at the camp. While gone,
someone attacks Jesse and rapes her with a branch. When Nick returns he finds
her beaten, bloody and clinging to life. Anxious to save her life, Nick rushes
her to town inside the Ax. But their trip takes an unexpected detour when
Jesse, groggy and still in shock, sees a man pass by them on the street – and
identifies him as her attacker. Filled with rage and hate, Nick parks the
truck and beats the living hell out of the man. With his knuckles covered in
blood, Nick gets back into his ride and rushes Jesse to the hospital. But
when they arrive, the real terror begins... Jesse screams at every doctor and every
nurse. She says they’re the ones who attacked her! She’s got severe shock and
she’s having very vivid hallucinations. Nick realises the man he assaulted
was not her attacker and returns to the scene. When he arrives, the police have sealed
off the scene and the coroner’s men are removing the body. That’s right! Nick
killed an innocent man. But this is just the beginning of his
nightmare. The man he murdered was Conrad Wallis – son of District Attorney
candidate and With the initial investigation turning
up nothing, Nick’s guilt gets the better of him. He decides to write a letter
of confession and deliver it to Duke having seen him on television and in the
newspapers. But when he arrives at his office, things get more twisted. Feeling sorry for Nick, and
understanding the pain he’s going through with Jesse, Duke offers Nick a job,
working on his campaign. Overwhelmed
and also in awe of Duke, Nick accepts. Thus begins a relationship between the
two. Nick becomes a surrogate son to Duke, and Duke becomes the father Nick
never had – dependable, respected and thoughtful. What worked in this script? The characters. Although most of them
are clichés – they might as well have called Duke Bronson in the script –
they are well written and as the script progresses we begin to care about
them. No one is 100 percent innocent in this thing. Nick killed Duke’s son,
Duke is a bad father who neglects his living son and wife, but somehow the two
work together. The setting, a cold town on the
outskirts of The twists. As Nick gets deeper into the
hole he’s created, things get more twisted. There’s a lot of
“Does-Duke-know-that-I’m-guilty?” moments and there’s a great sequence where
Duke takes Nick deer hunting. The whole time he’s in the mountains, the
deserted mountains, with Duke and his entourage, who are all armed to the
hilt, Nick wonders if they’re gonna start hunting him. Great sequence. But it
ends up only being a nightmare. Cheap get out right? Wrong! The sequence ends
beautifully with a touching moment between Nick and Duke. The bad? Some cringe worthy dialogue,
the initial set-up takes too long to get going and Duke – who is the most
interesting character - doesn’t turn up til page 40. As I read No Return, I wondered how Gregory Goodell was gonna wrap up the
web he’d woven. Surely it wasn’t going to be satisfactory? Well yes and no,
but more yes. Nick confesses, Duke swears vengeance,
and the ending...is unexpected and too good to give away. No
Return is a complicated script that deals with
violence, being a man, family, loyalty, guilt and the savagery of life. Duke
Wallis would have been a great role for Bronson after The Indian Runner. In fact, this script reminds me of Sean Penn’s
excellent The Pledge in places. The
location is isolated, the characters aren’t all clean and the themes of
obsession and honesty aren’t ones that can easily be answered. The outcome,
however, is resolved. Overall, this is one Cannon film that
wasn’t a lost cause. Too bad it never got made. A solid B rating. -Kent
Church
©
2008 Kent Church |
Cannon, Could Have Been
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